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Page) the object of the Government is to maintain its authority, and
as an aid in that work it frees the slaves. If, therefore, the sentiment of
which Dr. Whately speaks favors the form more than the substance, it will
continue to quarrel with us because we did not emancipate, because slavery is
wrong. But if it cares more for liberty and the peace which comes from justice,
it will not repine, nor accuse us, because justice was done merely as a stroke
of military policy and not in deference to a moral principle. The history of
emancipation any where will not show that it was solely the result of moral
conviction. Certainly it does not become John Bull to scrutinize censoriously
the motive of emancipation.

Second, the next point made by
the Archbishop is that the rebels have as good a right to their revolution as
our fathers had to theirs.

What then does Dr. Whately or any
other Englishman understand by the right of revolution? If he takes the old high
Tory ground that there is no such right—then, of course, he will not excuse the
revolt of the rebels against an established Government. But if he asserts that
right in any form, he must ground it upon oppression for which legal redress is
hopeless. That is the only right of revolution acknowledged by any English or
American authority. Very well, our fathers' grievance as British subjects was
that they were taxed without representation, and redress was refused them.
Therefore they rebelled. But our rebels do not set forth any oppression of the
Government to justify their resistance. They do not even acknowledge their
rebellion as a revolution. They claim that secession is a lawful act under the
Government and within the laws. The right of revolution as we all understand it,
therefore, has nothing to do with the rebellion. For how could they pretend to
any oppression under a Government which they had themselves always controlled?

There may be people in England
who have no very clear idea of the right of revolution, and who suppose that the
insurrection of the slaveholders in this country has some resemblance to the
resistance of our fathers to Great Britain; and there may be others who reject
liberty for the slaves when it does not come as a moral impulse but as a
military discretion. But the British feeling against us is a mingled product of
ignorance, sophistry, and the steady jealousy of the governing class in England
of a political system whose success imperils their monopoly of privilege and
power. The letter of Dr. Whately shows that there has been no considerable
change in general sentiment within his observation. But across the channel in
England the question begins to be better understood. While Westminster boggles
about forms, and says that it is a war for dominion or for the restoration of
the Union, Lancashire sees that it is a contest for principles, and that its own
future is blended with the success of the American republic.

PATRIOTISM
AND PARTISANSHIP.

"MADISON," in Wisconsin, writes
to call the Lounger to account for saying that the Weekly had not been partisan.
"Madison" says that he believes firmly in the principles of the Democratic
party, and that this paper did not hesitate to oppose the election of Mr.
Seymour. How then, he asks, have you the face to say that you are not partisan
when you supported the candidate for whom the Times, and Tribune, and
Independent labored?

The answer is very short and
simple. General Wadsworth was nominated upon a Union war platform, and his
companion upon the ticket was Lyman Tremaine, certainly as good a
Democrat as
Mr. Seymour or "Madison." There was no party
issue in the canvass. The platform of the Union party was a vigorous prosecution
of the war by every just means. This paper stands and has always stood upon that
platform, and the Union and country can be saved upon no other. It is the point
of meeting of men of all parties. The President, Mr. Everett, and Mr. Dickinson
are all there. The debate upon what measures are most vigorous can not be made a
party issue. Men may differ; but they do not differ as partisans, but as
patriots.

If, however, a general opposition
to the war policy of the Government should be maintained by any party and called
Democratic, and every old adherent of that party should be summoned to that
platform, and we, because we may believe in the fundamental principles known as
Democratic, should therefore desert the position of support of the Government in
suppressing the rebellion, then we should be truly liable to the charge of
"Madison" that we had deserted patriotism for party. If he has done that, if he
obeys a mere party call, which ought not to be raised, and can not loyally be
raised during a war for national existence, he is a convicted partisan, because
he is more strenuous for his party than for his country. If, however, he obeys
that call because he thinks it promises a speedier triumph for the country, he
does it, not as a Democrat or a partisan, but as an American citizen and
patriot. And if we or any other think that another policy is surer of success,
we adhere to it in the same way, not as Democrats, but as patriots.

We support the policy of the
Government not because the Republican papers approve it, nor because many
Democratic papers approve it, but because we believe it to be a sound and
effective policy for the restoration of the Union and the speedier return of
peace and prosperity. And when Mr. Seymour, or Mr. Vallandigham, or Mr.
Saulsbury show themselves as heartily and singly in earnest for the maintenance
of the supreme authority of the Government of the United States as President
Lincoln, we shall just as warmly support them as we do the President.
"Neutrality" between parties, Mr. "Madison," does not mean saying that every
body is equally right and equally wrong, but in pursuing the patriotic purpose
whatever either party says or does. If that course leads us to travel much the
same road as one of the

parties, so much the better for
the patriotism of that party.

THE
SOLDIER'S FAREWELL.

FOR so many years "the glory of
France" has been such a purely military glory—the greatest of modern Frenchmen
was so entirely a great soldier, that in any French song-book the most melodious
and touching songs are generally of the camp. The "t'en souviens-tu?" of the two
French veterans of the Guard, sung to the German melody of "Denkst Du Baran?" is
familiar to all lovers of that kind of song. And here a friend sends a pleasant
and skillful rendering of Le Dernier adieu du soldat, a military ballad, which
is introduced in Charles Lever's "Jack Hinton." The mingling of jest and pathos
is entirely characteristic.

HUMORS OF THE DAY.

"WHAT is the matter, Sir?" said a
surgeon to his patient.

"Well, I have eaten some oysters,
and I suppose they have disagreed with me."

"Have you eaten any thing else?"

"Well, no—why, yes, I did, too;
that is, I took for my tea a mince-pie, four bottles of ale, and two glasses of
gin, and I have eaten the oysters since, and I really believe the oysters were
not good for me!"

A gentleman, who had a very
blundering servant, put down in writing every thing he wished him to do. Going
to the country one day, the master fell into a ditch. He called the lad, who,
instead of hastening to his assistance, exclaimed, "Stop, let me see if it's
down in my memorandum-book." Great presence of mind that, wasn't it?

"My affairs tend downward," as
the oyster said when about to be swallowed.

During Lord Holland's last
illness George Selwyn called and left his card. Selwyn had a fondness for seeing
dead bodies, and the dying lord, fully comprehending his feeling, is said to
have remarked, "If Mr. Selwyn calls again, show him up; if I am alive, I shall
be delighted to see him, and if I am dead, he will like to see me."

Why is a windy orator like a
whale?—Because he often rises to spout.

TOO CANDID BY HALF.

As Tom and his wife were
disputing one day

Of their personal traits, in a
bantering way,

Quoth she, "Though my wit you
disparage,

I'm certain, dear husband, our
friends will attest

That, compared with your own, my
judgment is best!"

Quoth Torn, "So they said at our
marriage!"

"I'll bring a suit for my bill!"
said an enraged tailor to a dandy who refused to pay him. "Do, my dear fellow,"
replied the imperturbable swell, pointing to his threadbare clothes, "that's
just what I want."

The other day a young man,
decidedly inebriated, walked into the executive chamber and asked for the
Governor. "What do you want with him?" inquired the secretary. "Oh, I want an
office with a good salary—a sinecure." "Well," replied the secretary, "I can
tell you something better for you than a sinecure—you had better try a water
cure." A new idea seemed to strike the young inebriate, and he vanished.

WANTED.

A coffin to bury the Dead Sea.

The saucer into which the cup of
misery overflowed.

A night-cap to fit the head of a
river.

The match which kindled the fire
of love.

A pair of spectacles to suit the
eyes of Justice.

A remedy to cure the deafness in
the ears of corn.

The broom with which the storm
swept over the sea.

"I go through my work," as the
needle said to the idle boy. "But not till you are hard pushed," as the idle boy
said to the needle.

Why is the letter l in the word
"military" like the nose? —Because it stands between two i's.

"What's that ar a picture on?"
asked a countryman in a print store the other day of the proprietor, who was
turning over some engravings. "That, Sir, is Joshua commanding the sun to stand
still." "Du tell! Which is Josh, and which is his son?"

The wife of an Irish gentleman
being suddenly taken ill, the husband ordered a servant to get a horse ready to
go for the doctor. By the time, however, that the horse was ready, and the note
to the doctor written, the lady had recovered; on which he added the following
postscript, and sent the servant off: "My wife having recovered, you need not
come."

"I haven't another word to say,
Sir; I never dispute with fools." "No," was the reply, "you are very sure to
agree with them."

DO YOU GIVE IT UP?

When is a bonnet not a bonnet?

When it becomes a pretty woman.

Why is an Israelite named William
Solomon similar to a public festival?

Because he is a jubilee (Jew
Billy).

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.

CONGRESS.

ON Wednesday, February 4, in the
Senate, the credentials of Senator Doolittle, re-elected Senator from Wisconsin
for six years from the 4th of March next, were presented. The bill to prevent
correspondence with rebels was reported back. A bill authorizing the President
to make qualified pardons, so as to remit fines, relieve from imprisonment,
etc., was passed. The resolutions relative to French intervention in Mexico were
laid on the table by a vote of 34 against 9. The resolution directing the
Secretary of the Navy not to accept the title of League Island until further
order of Congress, was referred to the Naval Committee. The bill for the
encouragement of re-enlistments and the enrolling and drafting of the militia
was taken up, and several amendments adopted. A motion to strike out the second
section, giving the President power to make all rules and regulations for
enrolling and drafting the militia, was disagreed to. Pending a motion to strike
out the fourth section, the Senate adjourned.—In the House, the Committee on
Elections reported adversely on the claims of J. B. M'Loud, and his contestant,
W. W. Wing, to represent the second district of Virginia. The bill providing for
a submarine telegraph from
Fortress Monroe to
Galveston, communicating with intermediate
points on the coast, was passed. The bill providing for the codification of the
laws of the United States was rejected. The bill relative to the enlargement of
the canals so as to admit of the passage of gun-boats, was discussed at some
length, and then laid aside. Bills appropriating $30,000 for the protection of
overland emigrants; for the organization of an ambulance corps of twenty
thousand men; and authorizing the employment of additional clerks, copyists, and
laborers in the Quarter-master-General's office, were passed. The Senate bill
for the more efficient administration of the Subsistence Department was also
passed. The Senate bill authorizing twenty thousand men to be raised for the
defense of
Kentucky was likewise passed, and the House
adjourned.

On Thursday, 5th, in the Senate,
a bill to aid the construction of railroads and telegraphs in Kansas was
introduced. A resolution directing inquiry into the case of Captain John Wethers,
of the Fourth New Jersey Regiment, who has been confined at Fort Delaware for
several months, was laid over. The consideration of the bill to encourage
re-enlistments, and providing for the enrollment and drafting of the militia,
was resumed, and, after considerable discussion, the subject was recommitted to
the Military Committee. A resolution requesting the President to communicate the
number of volunteer and drafted men actually raised and mustered into service by
the several States, and the time when their terms of service will expire, was
adopted, and the Senate adjourned.—In the House, the Ways and Means Committee
reported back the Senate's amendments to the Executive, Legislative, and
Judicial Appropriation bill. Several amendments were disposed of, and finally
the bill was committed to a conference committee. A joint resolution to revise
and codify the naval laws was adopted. The Naval Appropriation bill, involving
expenditures to the amount of $68,000,000, was then taken up. A proviso was
added to the appropriation of $12,000,000 for iron-clads that no contracts shall
be entered into for this class of vessels until proposals have been solicited
from the principal iron-ship builders. The appropriation for the
Brooklyn Navy Yard was increased.

On Friday, 6th, in the Senate, a
resolution instructing the Finance Committee to inquire into the expediency of
repealing the duty on paper was adopted. A motion to postpone all prior orders
and take up the Bankrupt bill was disagreed to—14 against 24.—In the House, the
Senate's amendment to the Post-office Appropriation bill, authorizing a contract
for carrying the mails in steamers between San Francisco and the several ports
in Oregon, at a sum not exceeding $24,000 per annum, was concurred in. The
debate on the Illinois and New York Ship Canal bill was resumed, and continued
till the adjournment.

On Saturday, 7th, in the Senate,
a bill for the construction of a military and postal railroad from Washington to
New York was introduced and referred. Senator Sumner offered a resolution, that
the Committee on the Conduct of the War be directed to inquire into the
condition of the Army of the Potomac, both officers and men; and to consider
what measures are necessary in order to promote its efficiency, increase the
mutual confidence of the officers and men, and to secure from all an unwavering
and soldier-like devotion to the declared policy of the Government, with power
to send for persons and papers. This was laid over. The remainder of the session
was occupied in debate on the Missouri Emancipation bill.—In the House, the
Illinois and New York Ship Canal bill was under consideration.

On Monday, 9th, in the Senate, a
resolution requesting the Secretary of the Treasury to communicate to the Senate
the amount of Government cotton sold in New York since the blockade of the
Southern ports, the amount of commissions and storage, and the names of all
persons interested in such sales, was adopted. A bill to enroll and equip three
hundred thousand negro soldiers was introduced by Senator Sumner. A resolution
was adopted requesting the President to communicate to the Senate, if not
incompatible with the public interests, the character of the suggestions made by
the Secretary of State of the United States to M. Mercier, the representative of
the French Government, as related by him to M. Thouvenel, which induced M.
Mercier to undertake a mission to Richmond, and what representations he was
authorized to make from the Government or from the Secretary of State to the
rebel authorities. Several bills relating to the District of Columbia were
passed. The bill to provide a national currency, secured by the pledge of United
States stocks, and to provide for the circulation and redemption thereof, was
then taken up. An amendment increasing the amount of circulating currency from
two hundred millions to three hundred millions was adopted. An amendment was
offered requiring each banking association organized under the act to keep in
its vaults gold and silver coin to the amount of one-fourth of the amount of
notes it is authorized to issue, and pending the question on this proposition
the Senate went into executive session, and afterward adjourned.—In the House,
the Indian and Civil Appropriation bills were reported by the Ways and Means
Committee. The consideration of the bill to enlarge the Illinois and New York
canals was then resumed, and after some discussion the bill was defeated by a
vote of 61 yeas against 71 nays. The Committee on Elections reported against the
credentials of John B. Rogers and Lewis M'Kenzie, the former claiming a seat
from Tennessee, and the latter from the Seventh District of Virginia. The report
of the same committee in favor of the claims of Messrs. Flanders and Hahn to
seats as members from Louisiana was called up and discussed, but the House
adjourned without taking a vote on the subject.

On Tuesday, 10th, in the Senate,
the bill reorganizing the Post-office Department was passed. A bill to increase
the number of Major and Brigadier Generals was reported by the Military
Committee. A resolution was offered and

adopted requesting the President
of the United States, if not incompatible with the public interests, to lay
before the Senate any correspondence which has taken place between this
Government and the Government of France on the subject of mediation,
arbitration, or other measures looking to a termination of the existing civil
war. The bill to provide a national currency was then taken up. The amendment
requiring banks to keep in their vaults specie to the amount of one-fourth of
their circulation was rejected. Several other amendments were proposed and also
rejected. The bill to prevent and punish frauds on the revenue was reported back
with amendments. A bill to allow the United States to prosecute appeals and
writs of error without giving security was introduced, and the Senate
adjourned.—In the House, the Committee on Ways and Means was instructed to
examine and report on the practical operation of the Excise law upon the
interests of manufacturers of limited means. The consideration of the report of
the Committee on Elections in favor of admitting Messrs. Flanders and Hahn,
members elect from Louisiana, to seats was then resumed, and a lively debate
ensued, which continued until the adjournment.

FROM
THE RAPPAHANNOCK.

There is nothing new from the
Army of the Potomac. Every thing is quiet in that direction.

REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.

GENERAL ORDERS—No. 6.

First. The division of the army
into grand divisions impeding rather than facilitating the dispatch of its
current business, and the character of the service it is liable to be called
upon to perform, being adverse to the movement and operations of heavy columns,
it is discontinued, and the corps organization is adopted in its stead. They
will be commanded as follows:

Second. Hereafter the corps will
be considered as a unit for the organization of the artillery, and no transfers
of batteries will be made from one corps or division to others, except for
purposes of equalization, and then only under the authority of the chief of
artillery.

Third. The cavalry of the army
will be consolidated into one corps, under command of Brigadier-General
Stoneman, who will make the necessary assignments for detached duty.

Fourth. The foregoing changes in
command will be made as soon as convenient. By command of

THE
RAM "QUEEN OF THE WEST."

The Union ram Queen of the West
ran the blockade gallantly at
Vicksburg on Monday morning, 2d, about
daylight. A hundred heavy siege guns from the shore and a rebel steamer in the
river opened fire on her, and kept up the storm of shot and shell for
three-quarters of an hour. The rebel steamer was crippled by the fire of the
union vessel, which ran the gauntlet in safety. We learn from rebel sources that
she arrived at Vidalia, opposite Natchez, on the same evening, and then steamed
down the river, doing considerable damage.

THE
CANAL AT VICKSBURG.

The progress of cutting the
canal near Vicksburg goes on rapidly. The
largest force which can be employed on it are at work night and day, and will
continue so until its completion to that point opposite which a formidable rebel
battery is said to be now constructed. It has been decided by the engineers that
the canal must be cut by artificial means to its full width, as no reliance can
be placed upon the action of the water in washing out the banks. It is
ascertained that some weeks, at least, must elapse before the work can be
advanced so for as to enable our gun-boats to effect any thing of importance
against the rebel stronghold at Vicksburg.

THE
REPULSE OF THE REBELS AT FORT DONELSON.

The rebels Wheeler, Forrest,
Wharton, and Woodward attacked
Fort Donelson yesterday, at two o'clock in the
afternoon, with four thousand men and eight pieces of artillery. We had eight
hundred men in the fort, under Colonel A. C. Harding.

The rebels charged the
fortifications several times, but were repulsed by our artillery and infantry
with great loss —the enemy, as usual, before and after the fight, demanding a
surrender, and offering to spare life if accepted, etc.

Colonel Harding replied that "He
was ready for all the consequences."

The enemy's loss in killed was
over one hundred, and in prisoners three hundred.

The forces under Colonel Lowe,
from Fort Henry, are pursuing the rebels, and others have been sent to intercept
their retreat. Our loss is twelve killed and thirty wounded.

OCCUPATION OF LEBANON.

Our troops entered Lebanon,
Tennessee, on the 8th inst., and captured six hundred of the rebels, most of
them belonging to Morgan's men, including Paul Anderson and a number of
field-officers.

THE
PIRATE "ALABAMA."

The
pirate steamer Alabama is reported to have
turned up at Kingston, Jamaica, on the 20th ult., where she landed the crew and
officers of the United States steamer Hatteras, numbering over one hundred. It
was reported that the Alabama had suffered severely in her fight with the
Hatteras; that she had five shots in her hull, one of which —through her
stern-post—was a very bad one. She put into Kingston to repair damages, and
expected to be ready for sea in four days. Immediately upon this news being
received in Havana, the United States steamers Wachusett and Oneida sailed
direct for Kingston, and the Santiago de Cuba and B. R. Guider, then on the
south side of Cuba, were ordered at once to the same port, and the Tioga and
Sonoma were also steering in the same direction.

HOW
CHARLESTON WAS WARNED OF OUR ATTACK.

Dispatches in the Richmond
Examiner, from
Charleston, state that the British frigate
Cadmus brought intelligence there that a most formidable naval and land
expedition was about to attack Charleston, the preparations being now nearly
complete. This vessel brought orders for the British Consul to go on board and
get to Havana as soon as possible.

A
TESTIMONIAL TO COLONEL THORPE.

The workmen of
New Orleans, engaged under Colonel Thorpe in
repairing and cleaning the levees and streets of that city, have presented the
Colonel with a magnificent service of plate, as a testimonial of their personal
regard, and a token of their sense of the great services which he has rendered
to the city.

FOREIGN NEWS. FRANCE.

MORE
MEDIATION RUMORS.

THE Paris Pays says that it has
reason to state that the Government of the Emperor has addressed a communication
to Washington, proposing means of arrangement between the two belligerents which
would fully protect the dignity of the Americans. Le Nord also says that France
has proposed the convocation of an American Congress with a view to peace. The
Paris correspondent of the London Times says that official instructions have
been sent by the French Government to Washington suggesting that commissioners
be delegated by the Federal Government and by the Southern States to meet on
neutral ground and confer together, without hostilities being suspended, so that
they might advise mutual concessions and effect a reconciliation, so desirable
for the interests of the world.

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